Anchor system for use in an aquatic environment

ABSTRACT

An anchorage system for use in an aquatic environment, which has a stationary base, a cylinder, and a piston useful for practicing stationary swimming and/or rehabilitation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on Mexican Application Serial No.PA/a/2005/006673, Jun. 17, 2005 which is hereby incorporated byreference and to which priority is

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to anchor systems for workout and/orrehabilitation inside bodies of water, more specifically to an anchorsystem used for the practice of stationary swimming in a swimming pool.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

In recent years there has been a notorious increase in the number ofstationary exercise appliances. These appliances are commonly used athome or at established gymnasiums. The appliances are used in order toexercise certain muscles or muscle groups, such as abdominals,pectorals, legs, etc. There are also appliances that simulate theactivity of a full sport, such as skiing, escalating (escalators),rowing (rowers), cycling (stationary bikes), walking (walking machines),and the like.

Swimming is one of the best cardio-respiratory exercises.Notwithstanding, it is difficult to practice this sport because arelatively large swimming pools are required to obtain the physicalbenefits of the sport. Thus, it would be advantageous to have a devicethat permits the swimmer to obtain the benefits of swimming in aconfined swimming location.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,993 granted to Morr on Oct. 21, 2003, describes anappliance used to hold a swimmer “in place” during an aquatic workout.The appliance is made of a flexible tethering string or cord attached tothe pool wall, a flotation device, and a pair of fixed lines secured tothe soles of the swimmer's shoes.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,823 granted to Awbrey et al. on Feb. 13, 1996,describes a system for exercise and therapy inside water. The systemincludes a hook anchored to the pool side deck to which a tether cord isattached via a swivel pulley assembly. The tether cord is attached tothe swimmer's shoe.

European Patent No. 0,226,524 granted to Sanchez Velasco, on Oct. 24,1990, describes any anchorage system which uses threaded bolts.

Despite the foregoing, there remains a need to develop a removableanchorage device that can be used during an aquatic workout.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to an anchorage device to be used inan aquatic environment capable of being installed in the place were theworkout and/or the rehabilitation is to take place inside water.

Another purpose of the present invention is to provide an anchoragesystem that is easier and more efficient to mold and produce in anindustrial scale, as well as significantly cheaper and convenient touse.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevated lateral exploded view of the anchorage system inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial elevated lateral exploded view of the anchoragesystem in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial elevated lateral view, showing the piston andcylinder assembly separated from the stationary base in the anchoragesystem of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial elevated lateral view of the stationary base of theanchorage system of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial elevated lateral view of the interphase cylinder ofthe anchorage system of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial elevated lateral view of the piston of the anchoragesystem of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a length-wide, elevational view showing a person using theanchorage system of the present invention in a swimming pool.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the drawings, the similar characters of reference are related to therelevant parts of all the different views.

Making reference to FIGS. 1-3, the anchorage system 10 for use in anaquatic environment in accordance to the present invention is provided.The anchorage system 10 comprises a piston 2, an interphase cylinder 4,a stationary base 6, and at least one ball 5 for removably securing thepiston 2, interphase cylinder 4, and stationary base 6 together.

The piston 2 has a first end (e.g., a superior or upper end) and asecond end (e.g., an inferior or lower end). The first end of the piston2 has a ring or hook (e.g., eyelet) 1 for receiving and attaching atethering string or band 8 (see FIG. 7). The second end of the piston 2comprises an elongated portion 2 a having a diameter equal to that ofthe inner diameter of a spring 3 which is slidably mounted on theelongated portion 2 a. The spring 3 is biased against a piston flange 2b extending out from the elongated portion 2 a to help retain the springin place when the piston 2 and spring 3 are placed within the interphasecylinder 4.

As shown in FIG. 1 and in more detail in FIG. 6, the piston 2 has anon-uniform outer diameter. The second end of the piston 2 includes anarrowing region 2 c having a diameter that is smaller that theelongated portion 2 a of the piston 2. In this narrowing region 2 c, thediameter of the piston 2 preferably tapers gradually from a larger firstdiameter inward to a smaller second diameter and then tapers backoutward. As discussed more fully below, this narrowing region of thepiston 2 receive a ball 5 when pressure is applied to the piston 2 sothat the entire piston 2 and interphase cylinder 4 assembly can beremoved or inserted into the stationary base 6.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3 and FIG. 5, the interphase cylinder 4 is generallya hollow member and includes at least one opening 4 a that extendsthrough the cylinder wall for receiving a ball 5. In the preferredembodiment, two openings 4 a are located on opposing sides of theinterphase cylinder 4. As discussed more fully below, the diameter ofthe openings 4 a is smaller than the diameter of the balls 5 so that theballs are movably retained within the openings 4 a and the wall of thepiston 2.

The balls 5 thus function to retain the piston and cylinder together.The balls 5 also function to removably position the piston 2 andcylinder 4 assembly in the stationary base 6. The diameter of theinterphase cylinder 4 is such that the piston 2 and spring 3 assemblyare slidably mounted therein. The interphase cylinder also contains aconcentric band or protuberance 4 c so that the elongated portion 2 a ofthe piston 2 can slidably move through the hollow cylinder 4 but thespring 3 cannot. Thus, when the piston 2 is pushed further into theinterphase cylinder 3 by applying pressure to the piston 2, the spring 5is compressed because one end of the spring 3 is biased against thepiston flange 2 b and the other end of the spring is biased against theprotuberance 4 c.

In one aspect, the interphase cylinder 4 also includes a flange 4 b. Toremove the piston 2 and interphase cylinder 4 assembly from thestationary base 6, it is useful push the piston 2 downward into thecylinder, thereby further compressing the spring 3 and at the same timepull the piston 2 and interphase cylinder 4 assembly outward by pullingon the flange 4 b.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3 and FIG. 6, the stationary base 6 comprises agenerally hollow member having a recess for receiving the interphasecylinder 4. The stationary base 6 is inserted into a wall, such as aswimming pool wall, in a preformed wall opening (see FIG. 7). Thestationary base 6 preferably includes a plurality of threads 6 a so thatthe stationary base 6 may be screwed into the wall. The stationary base6 also has a slot 7 at one end adapted to receive a common tool such asa screw driver, thereby anchoring the stationary base 6 to the wall.

As shown in FIG. 1, the stationary base 6 has a non-uniform innerdiameter. More specifically, the inner wall of the stationary basecontains a groove 6 b. This groove 6 b is adapted to receive and engagethe balls 5 in order removably secure the interphase cylinder 4 andpiston 2 assembly to the stationary base 6.

More specifically, to secure the piston 2 and interphase cylinder 4within the stationary base 6, the spring 3 is placed over the elongatedportion 2 a of the piston 2 such that the spring 3 is biased at one endagainst the piston flange 2 b and at the other end against the band orprotuberance 4 c on the cylinder wall. When the spring 3 is sufficientlycompressed by pushing the piston 2 into the cylinder 4, the balls 5become aligned with the narrowing region 2 c so that the balls 5 fallwithin the narrowing region 2 c of the piston. In this position, theballs 5 do not extend beyond the outer wall of the cylinder but residewithin the openings 4 a and the narrowing region 2 c. As such, theentire piston 2 and interphase cylinder 4 assembly can be slidablyinserted into the recess in the stationary base 6. When the user ceasespushing the piston 2 into the cylinder 4, the spring 3 biases the piston2 upward, causing the narrowing region 2 c of the piston to becomeunaligned with the openings 4 a in the cylinder 4. At the same time, thepiston 3 pushes the balls 5 laterally outward further into the openings4 a. When the openings 4 a on the interphase cylinder 4 are aligned withthe groove 6 b in the stationary base 6, the balls 5 extend from thewall of the interphase cylinder 4 into the grooves 6 b, thereby securingthe cylinder 4 and piston 2 assembly in place.

To remove the cylinder 4 and piston assembly 2 from the stationary base6, a similar action is used. The spring 3 is sufficiently compressed bypushing the piston 2 into the cylinder 4 so that the balls 5 becomealigned with and partially fall within the narrowing region 2 c of thepiston. The balls 5 in this position do not extend beyond the outer wallof the cylinder 4 but reside within the openings 4 a and the narrowingregion 2 c. The balls 5 also no longer engage the stationary base 6within the groove 6 a, thus, the entire piston 2 and cylinder 4 assemblymay be pulled from the stationary base 6.

The foregoing parts can be made out of any suitable material, orstainless steel, without necessarily limiting the fabrication of theseparts to said material.

FIG. 7 illustrates how the anchorage system 10 may be used inconjunction with a swimming exercise. The stationary base 6 is installedin a swimming pool by screwing the stationary base 6 into an openingwith a screw driver. The piston 2 and interphase cylinder 4 assembly areremovably attached to the stationary base 6 as discussed above. Elasticstrings or bands 8 are attached to the ring 1 at the superior end of thepiston 2 to hold the user in a stationary position when swimming byvirtue of similar hooks or rings 9 attached to the shoes of the user.

Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the spirit and extent ofthe claims adhered hereinto, the invention can be practiced in a mannerdifferent to the one specifically described in this document. From theforegoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted toattain all ends and objectives herein-above set forth, together with theother advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to theinvention. Further, since many possible embodiments may be made of theinvention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to beunderstood that all matters herein set forth or shown in theaccompanying drawings are to be interpreted as illustrative, and not ina limiting sense.

1. An anchorage system for use in an aquatic environment comprising: aremovable piston and cylinder assembly comprising a piston locatedinside a hollow cylinder and biased by a spring, said piston having anarrowing region, and said cylinder having at least one opening; atleast one ball at least partially positioned within said at least oneopening; a stationary base having a recess for receiving said removablepiston and cylinder assembly, and said stationary base having a groovefor receiving a portion of said ball when said piston and cylinderassembly is placed in said recess.
 2. The anchorage system for use in anaquatic environment in accordance with claim 1 wherein said cylinder hastwo openings and two balls at least partially positioned in eachopening.
 3. The anchorage system for use in an aquatic environment inaccordance with claim 1, wherein said stationary base has an upper slotand is said stationary base is threaded.
 4. The anchorage system for usein an aquatic environment in accordance with claim 1 where said pistonhas a ring or eyelet adapted to receive a tether.
 5. The anchoragesystem for use in an aquatic environment in accordance with claim 4,wherein a string is attached to said cylinder.
 6. The anchorage systemfor use in an aquatic environment in accordance with claim 1 whereinsaid narrowing region of said piston comprises tapering a diameter ofsaid piston from a larger first diameter to a smaller second diameter.7. A method for tethering a swimmer to a pool wall comprising: anchoringa stationary base having a recess in said pool wall; removably securinga piston and cylinder assembly in said recess, said piston and cylinderassembly having a ring or hook at one end; fastening a tether to saidring or hook; and fasting said tether to said swimmer.
 8. The method ofclaim 7 wherein said cylinder has at least one opening, said piston hasa narrowing region, and said anchoring base has a groove on an innerwall of said recess; and wherein a ball engages said groove in saidanchoring base and opening in said cylinder to removably secure saidpiston and cylinder assembly in said recess.
 9. The method of claim 7wherein said piston and cylinder assembly comprises a spring biasedbetween a flange on said piston and a protuberance on an inner wall ofsaid cylinder.